1. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to a system, method and apparatus for performing location determination and providing location information via a user plane-based location services (LCS) architecture.
2. Background
It is often desirable, and sometimes necessary, to know the location of a wireless user. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a report and order for an enhanced 911 (E-9-1-1) wireless service that requires the location of a mobile station (e.g., a cellular phone) to be provided to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) each time a 911 call is made from the mobile station. In addition to the FCC mandate, a network operator/service provider may support various applications that use location services, which are services that can provide the location of mobile stations. Such applications may include, for example, location-sensitive billing, asset tracking, asset monitoring and recovery, fleet and resource management, personal-location services, and so on. Some examples of applications for personal-location services include (1) providing a local map to a mobile station based on its location, (2) providing a recommendation for a facility (e.g., a hotel or a restaurant) based on the mobile station's location, and (3) providing directions to the recommended facility from the mobile station's location.
In many conventional wireless communication networks, the determination of a mobile station's location and the use of this location are integrated. That is, if an application requires the mobile station's location, then a procedure is initiated to determine and report the mobile station's location for use by this application. This integrated design is undesirable for several reasons. First, if multiple applications require the location of a mobile station, then the mobile station's location may need to be determined multiple times, once for each of these applications. This results in inefficient use of precious system resources. Second, a network entity designated with managing the determination and reporting of location of mobile stations may need to be redesigned whenever a new application is added by a service provider.
There is therefore a need in the art for a system, method, and apparatus that can more efficiently perform location determination and provide location information for mobile stations.